The Great Clock of Gallifrey
by TheEleventhWheatley
Summary: Somewhere in the Time Vortex is the Great Clock of Gallifrey, the most accurate timekeeping device in all of reality. Deep in the heart of the Time War, the Timekeepers of the Great Clock spend their lives protecting it, unaware that on the edges of reality the Daleks wait for their chance to strike, and take control of the most powerful device in the universe. Possibly a one-shot.


The ground shook and hurled everyone to the floor. It surely wouldn't be long before the Daleks broke into the Core of the clock. The ground shook again, and the distant squawking of Daleks could be heard.

In the central chamber, a crowd was amassing. Multiple guards, a few anxious Time Lords and the five Timekeepers themselves. It was the profession of the Timekeepers to maintain the Great Clock of Gallifrey, to ensure that it was always in working order. Not that it needed much maintaining, for the Great Clock more or less maintained itself. It was looked upon by lesser races of the universe as _the_ timekeeping device. It was the most accurate clock in the universe, accurate to, well, it needed no accuracy. It was the clock that determined the time itself. The Clock had the ability to rewind or fast-forward time to the point that some races viewed it as a temporal weapon – and that was why the Daleks were so desperate to get control of it. The Last Great Time War had been raging for four thousand centuries by this point, and the Daleks had only recently learned about the Clock.

The current occupants of the central chamber would have been surprised to learn that in several seconds their central nervous systems would burn as part of an electrical attack emanating from a Dalek weapon. Fortunately, the five Timekeepers had left several seconds before to attend to their TARDIS – a Type 63 vessel that needed just five pilots. The capsule would have been updated centuries ago were it not for the sentimentality of the eldest Timekeeper, Gryll, who steadfastly refused any suggestion of the capsule being replaced. They had with them perhaps the single most important device in all creation.

The Core of the Great Clock. It was this part of the Clock that manipulated time.

Following the twisting succession of corridors, the five Timekeepers – Gryll, Honome, Torpax, Ayjayel and Sackrodageit – stopped as one of the doors in the corridor burst open, a gaggle of terrified Time Lords fleeing the Daleks rushing through.

They were quickly shot down, tumbling to the floor as their skeletons were lit up by Dalek lasers. The Timekeepers were caught in the path of the rampaging Daleks, pinned to the wall by their plungers.

"YOU ARE THE TIME-KEEP-ERS."

"Y-yes," gibbered Gryll. "P-please don't h-hurt us!"

"YOU ARE IN POSS-ESS-ION OF THE CO-RE?"

"…n-no?"

"DO NOT LIE. YOU WI-LL GI-VE US THE CO-RE."

"If you already knew," growled Honome, "Why did you ask?"

Her body exploded with light, crumpling to the floor on the receiving end of a Dalek laser. Golden light began to grow around her. Another shot stopped it dead.

Gryll yelped.

"GI-VE US THE CO-RE."

"B-but…the c-core is –"

"GI-VE US THE CO-RE."

Reluctantly, Gryll removed the Core from its protective case. Almost reverently, he held out the Core – and kicked the Dalek as hard as he could in its hemispheres. The Dalek barely moved.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

Gryll took the brunt of three Dalek lasers at once. He died with such force that he was thrown backwards against the wall. It shuddered.

And cracked.

Already weakened from the attacks and forced entry, the Great Clock began to collapse.

The first thing Sackrodageit noticed when he woke up was that the ceiling had collapsed.

He opened and closed his mouth a bit, coughing to clear the dust in the air. He stood up and brushed dust off the outfit he was wearing, a white, quilted suit with a black stripe, an attire identical to that of the earlier Time Lords.

Adjusting his glasses, he stooped over the dead body of Gryll, who was on his last regeneration and therefore had not regenerated. The other surviving two were nowhere to be seen.

Silently apologising to Gryll, he took the Core from Gryll's lifeless hand and stepped away from the corpse. Behind him, a destroyed Dalek lay wrecked from the impact of several large pieces of ceiling.

He turned and ran down the corridor, back towards the central chamber. When he finally reached it, he pulled open the great iron doors with the clockwork decals and jumped back.

There was no central chamber. It had collapsed and fallen apart, presumably unable to withstand the strain of Dalek attack.

Sack turned. What was he to do with the Core now?

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

Daleks! Coming this way!

He turned and dashed down the corridor, skidding to a halt as he came face to face with some angry Daleks coming the opposite way.

"YOU WI-LL GI-VE US THE CO-RE."

He reached for the Core in his pocket, then, with renewed determination, yelled out and dived for the floor.

It didn't work exactly as he had planned, but it still went well enough.

The Daleks fired at him, their lasers angled down – presumably anticipating his trick. Sack dodged the beams and watched as the lasers crossed over and still managed to hit the Daleks as they were now literally firing at each other.

Sack got up, brushed himself down and grinned. He climbed past one of the destroyed Daleks, and his smile faded as another Dalek taskforce emerged from the doors at the end of the corridor.

A thought struck him, and he began to form a plan. A ridiculous, crazy and completely mental plan – but it might just work.

He turned and fled towards the TARDIS bays.

Almost at the entrance to the bays, Sack stopped as he heard a cry from the other end of the door.

Torpax was fleeing towards him, wide-eyed and terrified. He had almost made it to Sack when the corridor twisted at an angle, bending and shaking, metal screeching around them.

He stumbled and fell into the shattered metal, plunging out into the Time Vortex.

Sack yelled out, then ran into the bays and hurriedly located the Timekeepers' TARDIS.

He frantically pushed open the door and dashed inside.

The modern interior with its cool blue lights greeted him as he strode over to the large chest by the door. He opened it and reverently placed the Core inside.

He became aware of movement outside the TARDIS – something was trying to get in. Sack rushed to the scanner and activated it via a button, noticing a horde of angry Daleks trying to force their way in.

Hurriedly he searched for the dematerialisation circuit, and punched at one that looked as if it might be the right switch.

The lights went out.

"Okay," he muttered, breathlessly, "That's _not_ the one."

He pressed the switch again and the lights came on. Reaching for another one, he noticed that this switch seemed to play music, very loud. He jabbed at another and sent out a big air bubble around the ship, simply seeming to confuse the Daleks.

Finally happening upon a switch like a circuit breaker, he pulled it hurriedly and listened to the wheezing, groaning hum of the engines that would _not_ be there if this capsule was a Type 88 or higher.

The Type 63 TT Capsule faded in and out of existence and began a journey into the Time Vortex, taking the last Timekeeper, Sackrodageit, and the Core with it.


End file.
